Tag Archives: Wyoming Department of Education

Wyoming group sues officials over ban on abortion protest in state buildings

Posted on by

Wyoming group sues officials over ban on abortion protest in state buildings | The Republic.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Wyoming group has sued top state officials, claiming a ban on displaying anti-abortion placards in a tunnel between state buildings last year violated members’ constitutional rights.

WyWatch Family Action’s lawsuit Tuesday sought a court order to let the group to display its materials in the tunnel between the State Capitol and the Herschler Building during future legislative sessions, including the one starting next month.

State lawmakers and state employees use the tunnel to travel between the buildings and to reach a parking garage.

The lawsuit claims Rich Cathcart, head of the Wyoming State Building Commission, prohibited members from keeping anti-abortion placards in the tunnel during last year’s legislative session while allowing other groups to display their materials. Other groups permitted to display in the tunnel last year included the Wyoming Outdoor Council and Wyoming Seatbelt Coalition, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal, names Cathcart as well as Gov. Matt Mead and other statewide elected officials.

In addition to seeking a court order, the lawsuit also seeks attorneys’ fees and a nominal award of damages.

Wyoming Attorney General Greg Phillips declined to comment on the case Wednesday. Becky Vandeberghe of Cheyenne, head of WyWatch Family Action, directed questions to the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based Christian civil rights group. Lawyers for Alliance Defense Fund represent WyWatch Family Action.

“We’re interested in protecting First Amendment rights across the country in situations like this where a group is being singled out because of their religious expression and that expression is being banned, even where other groups are allowed to erect similar displays and similar viewpoints in the area,” said Jonathan Scruggs, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund.

Scruggs said WyWatch Family Action wants to put up materials communicating members’ belief that “life begins in the womb.”

“I don’t think it’s the type of situation where it’s any type of gruesome photo or anything along those lines, where it’s a baby that’s been aborted, or a fetus that’s been aborted,” Scruggs. “It’s more of a depiction of a baby in the womb.”

Representatives of the Alliance Defense Fund have lobbied the Wyoming Legislature unsuccessfully to pass a bill specifying that the state wouldn’t recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Such a bill was defeated last year. The Alliance Defense Fund also has litigated against same-sex marriage in California.

The Alliance Defense Fund also represented a group of Wyoming lawmakers last year in their unsuccessful attempt to intervene in a same-sex divorce case that was pending in the state Supreme Court.

Related articles
About these ads

Wyoming lawmakers on education panel support common core standard

Posted on by

Wyoming lawmakers on education panel support common core standard.

CASPER. Wyo. — Wyoming lawmakers have thrown their support behind proposed state standards based on national standards adopted by 45 other states and the District of Columbia.

Legislators on the Select Committee on Statewide Education Accountability agreed Tuesday to send a letter approving new standards in math and language arts to the State Board of Education, which ultimately decides state content standards. Committee members questioned the standards earlier this year, worried that adopting standards would come with federal strings and unknown ramifications.

Their endorsement comes with a caveat against any federal obligations that may result from adopting the standards.

Language arts and mathematics standards were developed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative, an effort by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. About 70 educators and parents around the state reviewed the national standards and generally said they were more rigorous than existing Wyoming content standards.

The Board of Education approved revised Wyoming content standards Sept. 23, and public comment will be accepted through Jan. 25 on the Wyoming Department of Education website, edu.wyoming.gov. The board also plans to hold public hearings on the standards.

The common core standards, if officially adopted, would be the basis for the 2013 Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students, which drives most of the school accountability system being planned by the select committee. One of the goals of the proposed system is to ensure “all students leave Wyoming schools career or college ready.”

Scott Marion, associate director for the Center for Assessment, told committee members the common core would strengthen that goal.

“If you want kids to be college and career ready, you have to have standards that articulate what it means to be college and career ready,” Marion said. “And if you want to be compared — favorably I hope — to other states, you have to have a basis for that comparison.”

Test questions, textbooks and curriculum materials will be planned for the common core, Marion said.

“A company is not going to write a textbook aligned to just Wyoming standards,” Marion said. “They’re going to write to common core standards, and you want to have materials that represent what your teachers are teaching.”

Lawmakers said that among all the complaints they heard about the common core from constituents, none said current Wyoming standards were better.

“I’m not hearing a defense of the Wyoming content standards by anybody,” said Sen. Phil Nicholas, R-Laramie.

An advisory committee comprising several educators also supported the common core in its recommendations for a statewide accountability system — a method of measuring and holding accountable schools for the increased and sustained level of state funding.

Lawmakers discussed the advisory committee’s recommendations and reviewed a draft bill outlining the proposed accountability system Monday and Tuesday in Casper.

Under the proposed system, schools would be designated as exceeding expectations, partially meeting expectations or not meeting expectations in academic growth in math, reading, writing and science and college and career readiness. Schools would receive support from and make an improvement plan with Wyoming Department of Education staff members.

The committee did not finish reviewing the bill and plans to resume discussion in January.

Related articles

Wyoming educators: More to solution than just accountability

Posted on by

Wyoming educators: More to solution than just accountability.

Accountability alone won’t get lawmakers the results they want from the state’s well-funded public school system, educators told a select committee tasked with creating a state school accountability system on Monday.

The proposed system of evaluating schools on test scores and graduation rate does not provide schools the support necessary to improve in the areas measured, according to members of an advisory committee to the Select Committee on Statewide Education Accountability. A 2011 law requires the committee to recommend or draft legislation outlining how schools will be measured and held accountable for the Legislature’s large monetary investment in education.

The lack of support and consequences for not meeting standards closely makes the system resemble the federal No Child Left Behind Act, said Diana Clapp, superintendent of Fremont County School District 6. Clapp said the state system should avoid mirroring the federal law unpopular with parents and educators, and instead generate plans for improvement that work together.

The proposed system relies heavily on the Wyoming Department of Education to track improvement plans and help schools and districts implement new programs and strategies to turn around struggling schools. About one-third of department employees left their jobs in the past year, according to payroll information from the Department of Administration and Information.

“With the changeover in personnel, it’s hard to know who to rely on, who has that expertise,” said James Bailey, superintendent of Uinta County School District 1.

Bailey said his district contracted a group from the Center for Educational Leadership at the University of Washington, and lawmakers need to think about if and how similar support can be offered within the state.

Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper, agreed, noting the state’s mix of rural and city schools creates equity issues.

“A lot is put on the Department of Education and state board,” Harshman said. “Do they have that capacity to turn around schools? I’m not sure anyone in our state has that knowledge and expertise.”

An accountability system is one of seven components of a quality education system, said Sue Belish, State Board of Education member and former superintendent of Sheridan County School District 1.

Belish said lawmakers should develop a system that links sensitive information to instructional practices but allows educators to focus on instructional practice, aligning accountability, assessment, school and district accreditation, teacher evaluations, graduation requirements, a support system and a rigorous, clear set of learning targets.

“We have an opportunity to accomplish something grand for Wyoming students, educators and citizens by creating a comprehensive, cohesive framework of education — not just accountability,” Belish said.

Lawmakers will discuss the advisory committee’s suggestions and begin working through a draft bill today in Casper.

Related articles